Tseng hadn't agreed to this at all. Turks didn't do dates, much less go on ones as a prize to a random person that had won a contest.

Why he'd been chosen was logical enough, but it didn't mean he agreed with it. The Public Relationns team was full of idiots as far as he cared. He was too old for this sort of thing, and he wasn't exactly known for being personable.

He had been briefed on a few details about who he'd been gifted off to for an evening and the expectations they had for the encounter and given ample funds to make it happen. He was dressed casually enough in gray slacks and a pale blue shirt, he had a suitcoat in the car if needed along with a tie if things got formal.

All he was waiting for was the unfortunate soul he'd be saddled with for the next few hours and forced to make non work related conversation with.

Sometimes, even his luck didn't work the way he wished.

The sound of the waves came before everything else. Slowly the view pulled back enough that a impressive ship of dark wood could be seen cutting through the ocean. Where it was headed was not obvious as there is currently no land within sight. On the ship is a crew which works like a well oiled machine, overseen by a tall woman accompanied by two men at either side of her. Out of the entire setting though, the woman seems to be the most lively one. She's dressed like the rest of her crew, if perhaps more elaborately. Her pale hair is bound back in a braid, except for her bangs which still frame her face.

Currently she's headed toward a certain area she's heard has become something of a death trap for their sort, the Navy laying ambushes on unsuspecting ships and taking their captains and crews under arrest...those that didn't die in the boarding of their ships anyway. Teaching the Navy a lesson sounds rather entertaining to her and a worthy challenge to her fighting abilities. She would show them once again that these waters belonged to her and her kin. Anyone who sought to argue the matter with her would have to argue with the six feet of steel she carried, as well as the swords of her first mates.

There was a reason after all, that she was considered the undisputed queen of these waters by the pirates which sailed them. Thus it was her duty to punish those who would attack her subjects in her territory.

Cold fog swirls, and makes the darkness even deeper, shrouding everything in a damp, cloying mist. There's a smell of ash in the air. To the side, a single golden pin impales a blue butterfly with black markings, just above the thorax. It struggles with a vain flurry of its tired wings, but for all the writhing desperation, there is little life left in the spasming body. It rests weakly between fits of frantic activity.

Beneath the butterfly, a picture of a blue-haired girl in a tiara and sailor-style collar has been clearly marked 'Mercury'. Nearby, similar displays bear the names of other planets. In some, the butterfly's wings have been pulled off or its body has been singed and scorched or bent to sickening angles; others are fresh and empty, but labeled in anticipation. They stretch into the distance as far as the eye can see in all directions.

The world of this dream is different from those Tseng has previously been found in, though it's eerily similar to the frozen library. Pillars and archways of ice form meandering pathways across the vast frozen landscape, everything crafted of ice and snow aside from the clusters of lillies that grow impossibly from the at times transparent ground. Ribbons of light twist beneath the ground and in the air, forming rivers and flowing endlessly back and forth.

All paths, however, eventually will lead to what could be seen as some sort of receiving area or strange bedroom. Frozen constructs shed cool light in the area, illuminating carved seats draped in heavy fabrics to keep the chill off of skin. Whites, blues and pale greens dominate with the occasional glint of gold bringing the only visual warmth to the scene.

Despite the frigid scene there's a pervading deep sense of safety and home that seems to come from a rather scantily clad blue skinned woman who's mass of dark blue hair falls in braids and twists bedecked with gold and ribbons. Seated on one of the larger 'chairs', she seems more than content to let the dark haired man rest with his head in her lap as she gently runs her fingers through his hair in soothing affection a soft hum of a long lost song floating in the air.

The tialk on Tseng's forehead is blue, instead of it's usual black and he's dressed in a draping blue and silver cloth that leaves his arms and one shoulder completely bare. What can be seen of his skin is littered with scars, alluding to those that aren't visible. Despite being obviously more relaxed than anyone has likely ever seen him, he doesn't look younger. If anything the loss of the tension revealed how very tired he'd been, how thirty years of being a Turk wore at him.

Despite the somewhat obvious implications of the dream, there's no sense of sadness. Tseng has long been at peace with his own demise, and in some ways it's a bit of a relief to finally have it done with.

When approached, she gives whomever it is a look that speaks volumes. Violence of any sort will not be tolerated in her domain, and while she's incredibly tolerant and understands there may be a good deal of anger she will stop anyone from harming her charge. He is hers to protect, at least until he's good and ready to defend himself again.

She touches Tseng's shoulder, head bowing as she speaks to him briefly and shifting as he sits up to greet whomever it is with a tired though open smile.

[OOC: Holy tl:dr batman!

So, basically Tseng's dead now, timeline wise for the ff7 people who're in line with him this dream happens the night after the wails of thousands of dying souls is heard coming from the abandoned Midgar sometime just before Dirge begins after Deepground's attack on Junon where said thousands of people were taken from.

And yes, the woman is Shiva!]

There once was a king whom possessed a beautiful and talented daughter of whom he was very proud and more than a little possessive of, but as things go, he knew he had at least make a show of trying to marry her off. So he found a large mountain made entirely of glass and installed his daughter at the top of it within a golden castle. Outside the castle, upon the summit of the mountain was planted a tree which produced golden apples. To gain admittance into the castle, one had to pick one of the apples from the tree.

The task sounded deceptively simple when the king spoke of it, saying whomever managed to gain the summit and then gain admittance to the castle would gain not only his daughter but his kingdom once he passed away. Thus a great many attempted to scale the mountain and unfortunately they soon found out the task was no where near as easy or simple as it seemed. The continued painful (and sometimes fatal) failures pleased the king and he sat content on his throne. One day the king's adviser came to him and told him of a knight whom had made it easily over half way up the mountain before turning away to go back down. He advised that if the king truly desired to keep his daughter for himself that there should be put a guardian to watch over the summit of the mountain and the tree.

The king agreed and tasked the man to produced him such a guardian, thus the adviser produced a massive winged beast akin to an eagle and set it to keep watch over the tree and the mountain's summit. When the golden knight arrived again, he made it so close, so close to the mountain's top, but before he could take it and thus make it to the tree, the beast was upon him, causing his horse to rear and the two, man and horse fell all the way down the mountain to perish at its base along with all those whom had tried before.

And so the princess remained trapped within the golden castle still.



[ooc: Decided to intro the lady in with a theme post, Seph's the princess, the king is the President and the adviser is Hojo. Feel free to join in as one of the staff serving the princess, or even the king, or as one of those seeking to win/free the princess from the mountain. The story, twisted to serve my ends is right here ]

Tseng smiled thinly as he watched the surprisingly large group gathered in one of Shin-Ra's ballrooms, he'd never realized quite how many people considered him family whether they were actually related or not. There was a smattering of brothers and sisters along with their kids, people he couldn't remember seeing but were somehow actually related to him and had come to congratulate him. Turks were there, of course, new ones who were just beginning to learn how to tie their ties and old ones who'd retired before his time.

He'd given a speech; speaking of loyalty and camaraderie, that they'd only need to call and he'd put his tie back on and be out the door for them. Once a Turk, always a Turk and he'd never abandon them or the tiny group of relatives he'd recently been informed of still having.

He knew he should talk to them, approach them and say something but he didn't know a thing about any of them these days. Family had been the company for nearly twenty years now, and while blood was thicker than water he'd shed an awful lot of it alongside the Turks.

It was awkward.

[OOC: Tseng's dreaming of his retirement party, and there's newly discovered family in attendance.]